Hampton
Masculine · Old English roots · “settlement' or 'farmstead”
Hampton is given to both — 4,780 boys and 259 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Hampton began as English ground before it was ever a person: a scatter of villages and manors across England, from Hampton Court on the Thames to the ports that grew into Southampton and Northampton. It arrived in America early — the Virginia town of Hampton has been continuously settled since the seventeenth century — and it settled deepest in the Carolinas and Georgia, where it is still most at home. Two firm syllables, and the mouth knows what to do with them on first sight.
How old is the name Hampton?
Hampton was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Hampton alive today was born around 1982, making them about 43 years old. About 3,100 people named Hampton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hampton most popular?
Hampton peaked in 1891, reaching #497 nationally. Today it ranks #1443, 946 places below that high. See the whole 1891 chart.
Where it comes from
From hām-tūn (Old English) to Hampton
The story of Hampton
Hampton is a place name that became a surname that became a first name — the ordinary English route, traveled in that order. Dozens of English settlements carry the name, and families who moved away were identified by where they had come from. Those surnames crossed to the American colonies, and in the South in particular the habit took hold of moving a family surname into the first-name slot, often to keep a mother's or grandmother's family line audible. That is why the name still concentrates in South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina, and why it has never quite left American use.
Meaningscholars disagree
'settlement' or 'farmstead', with a first element that varies by place
The second half is not in doubt: Old English tūn, a farmstead, enclosure or settlement — the ancestor of modern 'town'. The first half differs from village to village. Some Hamptons come from hām-tūn, the home farm; others from hēah-tūn, the high farm; others from hamm-tūn, the farm by a river meadow or bend. Since the given name comes from the surname, and the surname from whichever village a family left, no single reading claims all of them.
How the name formed
- hām-tūnOld English
- Hamtun / Hamtune
- HamptonEnglish place name
- Hamptonsurname
- Hamptongiven name
Pronouncing Hampton
HAMP-tun
Stress on the first syllable. The spelling gives the sound away completely, so it survives phone calls and roll calls without correction.
Nicknames for Hampton
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2025124 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #497reached in 1891
- Change vs 2022
- +15.9%124 in 2025, from 107
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Hampton in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina.
Hamptons among us
people named Hampton are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 13,775 born in 2025 was named Hampton
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Hampton sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Hampton is headed
Hampton should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Hampton beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Hampton in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds, and already familiar to most Americans through place names, so it rarely needs repeating or correcting.
- Has an established short form, Hamp, with generations of real use behind it — the child gets both a formal and a casual name.
- Surname-style, which reads equally naturally on a nursery list and a business card.
- Uncommon without being invented: a child is unlikely to share it, but no one will think it was made up last year.
- Deep regional roots in the Carolinas and Georgia, useful if the family line runs through the Southeast.
- The Hampton Inn chain and the Hamptons on Long Island are both loud associations — the first everyday, the second freighted with money. Neither is damaging, but both will get mentioned.
- Ham is an available nickname, and other children will find it. Worth deciding in advance whether that is fine with you.
- Outside the Southeast it may be heard first as a last name, which means occasional 'no, that's his first name' moments on forms and at appointments.
- US records show it almost entirely for boys, so a girl named Hampton would be doing something genuinely unusual — workable, but expect questions.
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Hampton
Masculine · Old English roots · #1443 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Hamptons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,100 people named Hampton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hampton in 2025?
- Hampton ranks #1443 among US boy names in 2025, with 124 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hampton?
- About 1 in every 13,775 US boys born in 2025 was named Hampton — 124 in all.
- Will my child share the name Hampton with classmates?
- Hampton will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Hampton
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ilan#1443 · Syair#1443 · Glenn#1443 · Khamari#1443 · Nick#1443 · Reyansh#1443 · Yair#1443 · Niam#1436
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hampton? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Hampton and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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